Lithic technology

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Stone Age This box: view • talk • edit
↑ before Homo (Pliocene)
Paleolithic Lower Paleolithic Homo control of fire, stone tools Middle Paleolithic Homo neanderthalensis Homo sapiens out of Africa Upper Paleolithic behavioral modernity, atlatl, dog Mesolithic microliths, bow, canoes Neolithic Pre-Pottery Neolithic farming, animal husbandry, polished stone tools Pottery Neolithic pottery Chalcolithic metallurgy, horse, wheel
↓ Bronze Age

In archeology, lithic technology refers to a broad array of techniques and styles to produce usable tools from various types of stone. The earliest stone tools were recovered from modern Ethiopia and were dated to between two-million and three-million years old. The archaeological record of lithic technology is divided into three major time periods: the Paleolithic (Old Stone-Age), Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age), and Neolithic (New Stone Age). Not all cultures in all parts of the world exhibit the same pattern of lithic technological development, and stone tool technology continues to be used to this day, but these three time periods represent the span of the archaeological record when lithic technology was paramount. See: Stone tool.

Some types of raw materials are:

• Chert / Flint,
• Quartzite,
• Obsidian,
• Sandstone,
• Basalt, and
• Greenstone.

[edit] References

• Introduction
• Stone Tool Technology
• Principles
• Notes
• Flaked Stone Tools
• Stone Tool Typology
• Stone Tools of Texas Indians
• Stone Types
• Impact of Chemistry
• Interpreting the Function of Stone Tools (book)
• Recommended Readings